Tamar Carter and Jason Pitts

Dr. Tamar Carter and Dr. Jason Pitts are Baylor biologists with unique insights into mosquitoes. In this Baylor Connections, they share information about these ubiquitous and unwelcome guests, both close to home and abroad. Learn tips to diminish the impact of mosquitoes on summer plans and discover how, more broadly, mosquito research can help stop the spread of disease in impoverished communities around the world.
Transcript
DEREK SMITH:
Hello, and welcome to Baylor Connections, a conversation series with the people shaping our future. Each week, we go in depth with Baylor, professors, and more, discussing important topics in higher education, research, and student life. I'm Derek Smith, and our guests today are Dr. Tamar Carter and Dr. Jason Pitts. They both teach and research in the Department of Biology at Baylor. Dr. Carter, an assistant Professor of Biology and a Tropical Disease Biologist is a member of the Cell, Molecular, Health, and Disease Research group at Baylor and partners in research with the President's Malaria Initiative Vector Link group. Earlier this year, she released a study on the detection of malaria-transmitting mosquito in Ethiopia, and its implications for putting more people at risk to disease. Dr. Pitts, Assistant Professor of Biology, focuses research on arthropod disease vectors. His lab investigates mosquitoes and other arthropods in behaviors such as host seeking, nectar feeding, and more. Both seek to reduce disease transmission around the world, and they are here with us today on the program. Dr. Carter, Dr. Pitts, thanks so much for joining us.
TAMAR CARTER:
Thanks for having us.
JASON PITTS:
Yeah, glad to be here.
TAMAR CARTER:
I'm excited to be here.
DEREK SMITH:
Well, you know, mosquitoes, you hear that word, and to different people, they think of different things. Particularly, as we head into the summer months here in Texas. I want to start off with you both of just, why mosquitoes? Where did those become such an important focus of y'all's work?
TAMAR CARTER:
Well, for my research, I've just always been interested in tropical disease and trying to ask the types of questions that can try and reduce the burden of tropical diseases in different countries. And one of the main transmitter of infections diseases is mosquitoes. So, that's a question that's always been interesting to me, and probably one of the main ways that we can try and slow down the spread of some of the infections diseases that affect us here in The States, and then also, in other countries.
JASON PITTS:
Yeah, I think I kind of came in the side door to mosquito research. I had finished a Master's Degree in Plant Sciences when I was still back in Indiana, and I moved to Nashville, Tennessee at that time and was looking for something new to do. I took a position in a new laboratory that was studying mosquitoes. I became a lab manager and a technician in that lab, and my interest just grew from there. So then, I decided to finish a PhD in the same subject area, and here I am 20 years later, now at Baylor, still studying mosquitoes, still fascinated every day and excited to have this opportunity to do something that can be so impactful.
DEREK SMITH:
I'll start with you, Dr. Pitts, and then move to you, Dr. Carter. Tropical diseases. Where did that kind of mission grab you? What was it about that opportunity to try to solve some of those that really reached out to you?
JASON PITTS:
Yeah, I think when one begins to realize how impactful tropical diseases are in the world, we are sort of sheltered from that here. We have great public health infrastructure, vector control, of course medical care that means even if we have some cases of things like West Nile, which we certainly do, and not to trivialize them, but we are largely now away from major diseases like malaria, which used to be prevalent in the southern U.S. But when you begin to realize that the rest of the world, fully half the world's population is still susceptible to malaria transmission every year, and that doesn't even include all of the other viruses, et cetera, nematodes that are transmitted by mosquitoes, then that's kind of an awakening, I think. And really, it affected me in that way, to understand that people in the world are still suffering from these diseases, I won't say needlessly, but certainly, there are very good ways, or have been historically, to reduce disease transmission. So, that alone is enough to take a hold of one and really captivate my interest, personally, in this area of research.
DEREK SMITH:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). What about you, Dr. Carter?
TAMAR CARTER:
For me, I've always been interested in the topic of population health. And then, kind of from a training perspective and also as a student, I started to do research, not so much connected to population health, but just because I had a question about how population diversity can be looked at from a historical standpoint. When I was in my last year as an undergraduate student, I attended a conference where somebody was presenting some research on malaria, and kind of using genetic tools to kind of show how malaria spreads, how patterns within specific human populations can impact that, that just hit home for me, because it was bringing together both my interest in research and science, and then also how we can directly impact health, improve health from a population level. That's kind of what started my path down this research question.
DEREK SMITH:
Visiting with Dr. Tamar Carter and Dr. Jason Pitts from Baylor Biology. And because most people, I think, think a certain way about mosquitoes, when you talk to people about your research outside of your discipline, do you find there are misconceptions people have about the work you all do?
TAMAR CARTER:
Yes, all the time.
DEREK SMITH:
You both smiled immediately.
JASON PITTS:
Yes. Yeah, great question.
TAMAR CARTER:
Probably the most common misconception people have about the research that I do is that I'm working with live mosquitoes. All my mosquitoes are dead, and that's okay, because you can get a lot of interesting information from just the DNA from the mosquito. You can get a lot of interesting information from the DNA from the sources of food, from the blood meals. That creates a really interesting story about how mosquitoes spread, how they're moving, how maybe they've reached a new area, which is one of the questions that my research really focuses on, particularly in Ethiopia.
DEREK SMITH:
Interesting.
JASON PITTS:
Yeah.
DEREK SMITH:
What about you, Dr. Pitts?
JASON PITTS:
Yeah, I think when people find out that I'm interested in how females find their blood meal hosts, for example, then they begin to tell me stories, almost always. We have this common experience, mosquitoes are a nuisance to us, we understand that they transmit diseases, but how it is that there are interindividual differences, for example, in biting preferences of mosquitoes. Even what's a mosquito as opposed to another type of insect? I get a lot of inquiries from people about giant mosquitoes that they have. Most of the time, those are probably crane flies. They look like mosquitoes, but they're not actually biting, taking blood. And we don't expect people in the general public to be entomologists. They're not thinking about mosquitoes every day as we are, so those are some of the misconceptions, I think. What really is a mosquito? The fact that only females blood feed, for example. There are other things of interest. If people eat certain foods, they think they'll be less attractive to mosquitoes. While there's maybe anecdotal evidence for that, there's not some good hard science, I think, to back that up. So, lots of little misconceptions, and I think it's our job to try to help dispel those and to talk about mosquitoes to the general public in a way that helps inform and gives people a new understanding, maybe. But I love to talk about mosquitoes. I think Tamar does, too.
TAMAR CARTER:
Yeah.
JASON PITTS:
So, any time we can have a forum for that, it's great.
DEREK SMITH:
Well, over the course of our time remaining here on the program, I want to talk to you about mosquitoes from a practical level here in Central Texas, and then from a broader, missional level around the world. But let's start practically, as we are heading into summer months. Parents are taking their kids places, hopefully being outside more. Just, as we interact with them over the summer in Central Texas, are there tips that you would generally give people to maybe minimize a mosquito's impact on their summer experience?
JASON PITTS:
We tell people, really, the information that they can get from public health entities, even from the CDC, for example. Wear mosquito repellent. If you're out and you're active during the summer, we want people to be out and active, themselves, their children, their families, yeah, wear a repellent that's very well-proven, that not only repels mosquitoes, which can transmit diseases, but also ticks and other biting insects out there. That's at the top of the list. There are other non-deet containing repellents that are available. They're typically not as long-lasting, so you have to reapply them more often, for example, but they're pretty good, too. Some people like to stay away from deet. They think, especially in young children, it can have some potentially negative health effects. I think most of the science says that that's not the case, that they're very safe, been used for years, deet-containing repellents. That's number one. Other things, avoid peak biting times, maybe, dusk and dawn times, things that I think most people are actually very familiar with, because again, we have this common experience of being attacked my female mosquitoes a lot. So, those are a couple of the main things. Cover your skin whenever you can. Less surface area for mosquitoes to bite is always a good thing. Certain kinds of plants are repellent to mosquitoes. Mums are a good choice. And maybe using a fan, if you're sitting on your porch, to kind of blow away the mosquitoes. It's a little tougher for them to fly into a strong wind, so a fan on a high setting is a good thing, too. Tamar, what about you?
TAMAR CARTER:
All of that is very important advice, but also being aware of the structure around your home, looking for areas where standing water might be, where mosquitoes could potentially breed and wreak havoc.
DEREK SMITH:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yes.
TAMAR CARTER:
If you can be aware of that, try and reduce them. Also, check the screening in your doors and your windows, if you have your windows often. Make sure that they are not broken, or there's no holes so that mosquitoes won't be able to escape inside your home. Yeah.
JASON PITTS:
Yeah, great points.
DEREK SMITH:
Besides proximity, how do mosquitoes pick a host?
JASON PITTS:
Hmm.
TAMAR CARTER:
Those are good questions.
JASON PITTS:
Most of that, we know, is based on odor. Female mosquitoes are very adept at flying upwind toward an odor source, so I think a lot of people are aware that carbon dioxide that we respire, and all animals respire CO2, of course, and when they exhale, they're giving off CO2. That's a long-range kind of activator for mosquito flight. Females, even just in the presence of pulses of carbon dioxide will begin upwind flight. Then, as they get a little bit closer, they need other odor cues. Those are things that we sweat out. And not only do we sweat those compounds out that are, we call them volatile odors, so really strong smells, we know them well, the microbes on our skin also act on those chemical compounds and change them into other compounds that can be very attractive to mosquitoes. So, they're really doing those things and long- and medium-range, and then, in close range, they're sensitive to heat, and they're also taste sensitive. A mosquito, it's not a guarantee that a female that finds one individual and lands on them will actually bite. They might find some, like a deet, which is repellent, at distance, but also on contact, for mosquitoes.
JASON PITTS:
And every mosquito species is different, right? So, the preference behaviors have to do with odors. Differences in the smell of a goat, or a sheep, or a horse compared to a person, that's for sure. But we don't really know the very specific details of how that works, and that's an area of active research for my lab, for example.
DEREK SMITH:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
TAMAR CARTER:
Right. And that's a good question to ask, in terms of trying to design appropriate interventions to try and reduce the spread of mosquitoes. If you know what they're feeding on, if you know what's causing their preference to choose either humans or goats, which is something that we believe that the mosquito that we found in Ethiopia has a preference for, then that can help you figure out where to target your interventions.
DEREK SMITH:
So, if there's someone who says, "Boy, I think mosquitoes are just really attracted to me," maybe that is possible?
JASON PITTS:
Yes. Absolutely. Anecdotally, that's our experience. And there is good scientific evidence to back up those kind of claims, that there are individual differences in attractiveness.
DEREK SMITH:
Interesting. We are visiting with Dr. Tamar Carter and Dr. Jason Pitts from Baylor Biology here on Baylor Connections. We are talking mosquitoes. Dr. Carter, we saw earlier this year a study that you released about the implications of the detection of malaria-transmitting mosquito in Ethiopia. You referenced that a little bit earlier. But take us through that a little bit. Where did you first become aware of this problem?
TAMAR CARTER:
What often happens when you're doing a project, you start off asking one question, and then something surprising pops up, and then you get redirected. This project started as a partnership with my collaborator at Jigjiga University in East Ethiopia to explore the mosquito species composition in that area, which is fairly understudied, and also look at the genetic mutations that are associated with insecticide resistance. Along the way, we found that the species that we had originally thought that the mosquito was, which is common to most of Ethiopia, wasn't exactly what we had in hand. And from there, we decided to further characterize what this species looks like in this region, and how similar it is to where we know that exists, which is in South Asian. So, the finding of a South Asian mosquito species in Ethiopia for the first time was very important, and definitely raises questions about how mosquitoes move and what causes them to spread.
DEREK SMITH:
Even as we talk about this, as we kind of shift from talking about summer in Texas to what they're detecting in Ethiopia, it feels like there's a difference in the ways we talk about mosquitoes in the U.S. as related to other places in the world. What are some of those differences, and what role do you guys see poverty playing in just the ways that you approach this?
TAMAR CARTER:
There are some differences. I think probably the first thing that stands out is the difference in public health infrastructure and resources that are available. In a lot of countries, the access to some of the things we have here in The States is not there, so therefore, that's caused a proliferation of a lot of these deadly, infectious diseases in the area. So, while a mosquito bite here might be an irritation, in developing countries where tropical diseases are high, a mosquito bit could be life or death. So, that's probably one of the main issues. And then, in terms of how that relates to poverty, again, it's about the resources. But I think, Jason and I were talking a lot about this recently, about how the question of poverty also is applicable here in The States in terms of exposure to mosquitoes.
DEREK SMITH:
Sure. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
JASON PITTS:
Yeah. And also, to add to that, it's cyclical. Low to middle income countries, or countries in the developing world are often in the tropics where there are just many more mosquito species, so many more vectors that are possible. And poverty then is exacerbated, right?
TAMAR CARTER:
Sure.
JASON PITTS:
You have areas where you have less infrastructure, less healthcare, but also, when people are bitten, they are affected dramatically in their ability to work, their ability to earn their incomes is reduced, so that just keeps exacerbating the problem. So, that's something that we're a little bit away from the tropics, we're in temperate zones. We have fewer mosquitoes, we have infrastructure, not only in terms of public health, but as Tamar alluded to earlier, even personally. We have screen homes, we have air conditioning, we have places that are really unfavorable for mosquitoes to be able to get to us. For us, it's we go out and we expose ourselves, in a way, to mosquito bites. But if the disease isn't found in a population, like malaria that's been eradicated in the U.S., it's not, then even if the Anopheline mosquito that's here in Texas bites us, there's no issue. There's no malaria around. But in the developing world, still, people are exposed all of the time. Most of their daily lives, the things that they're doing are outdoors, so they're constantly exposed to a wider variety of mosquitoes and diseases. All that plays a role in disease transmission, and what we have to do, I think, is help those countries build infrastructure, and train scientists who are from those countries to go back and study these problems. Tamar and I, while we love our research and we think that we can have an impact, what we do isn't enough. We have to be able to help other countries help themselves, in a way, too. So, that's something that I think the public in the U.S. should hear more about, that we're not just doing this because we want money from government entities to do what we do and keep our jobs, but we're trying to help other countries build to a point where they can take care of these problems themselves, too. And that, in turn, helps us. It's a small world.
TAMAR CARTER:
Right?
JASON PITTS:
Yeah.
DEREK SMITH:
Visiting with Dr. Tamar Carter and Dr. Jason Pitts. Since we talked, you all are scientists by discipline, but sociology, what we're talking about seems like it plays a big role.
JASON PITTS:
Yeah.
DEREK SMITH:
When along the way did you realize that implication? And what are some of the ways, whether it's studying on your own, or interacting with other professors, other professionals, that you find that informs what you do?
TAMAR CARTER:
I think having traveled to Ethiopia, and then working with people on the ground there, building those type of partnerships, keeps my mind not just locked into the lab, and looking at my research in terms of mosquito legs, or whatever, but in terms of the people that this is supposed to impact. I think building those connections from a cultural standpoint, with individuals who actually understand the dynamics on the ground of how diseases are spread is important. And I think, also, building bridges with public health institutions whose job is to take what we find, and turn it into some type of an intervention is important. So, I'm excited that I'm building those type of relationships.
JASON PITTS:
Great points. I've done a little bit of work in Ghana, in West Africa myself, and as Tamar says, nothing replaces that firsthand experience of going and seeing for oneself how these diseases impact the lives of people, what's being done in those countries in terms of vector control, and disease transmission reduction? And that helps inform us about what our roles really might be, how we can really help and speak to that conversation. Nothing has replaced that for me. And in a fundamental way, intertwining my own life and the lives of my family members with people in a place that seems very, very far away, but it's really not so far away, and wouldn't we want the same thing for our families, and good health for our children, and just opportunity for us to succeed?
DEREK SMITH:
Visiting with Dr. Tamar Carter and Dr. Jason Pitts. As we head into the final few moments of the program, I want to ask you about your research and the way it impacts the work you do, and the receptiveness of Baylor students as you talk to them, because I know Baylor students do have a reputation for being interested in that sense of mission, how what they do can impact the world around them. What do you find is the students' response to your work? And in what ways are you able to use that to sort of enhance the learning experience?
TAMAR CARTER:
Yeah. I think one thing that Dr. Pitts and I really love about Baylor is just how mission-oriented the students are, and that comes from a very personal place for them. Our research focuses on tropical disease, which tend to impact the most underserved people in this world, so I think there's a natural attraction to the type of work that we do. I'm glad that I get to expose students to that. I have two undergraduate students working in my lab.
JASON PITTS:
Yes.
TAMAR CARTER:
And I love that they're getting that experience, but I think hopefully the type of work that we do at least grows a sense of curiosity for the students about other questions that still need to be asked about how infectious diseases are spread, what's the global health impact of that? But also from a career standpoint, I hope we encourage students to kind of keep an open mind about how you could impact health in the career path that you choose, outside of maybe the more traditional, obvious approaches, becoming a physician, or something. You can have a pretty broad impact by facilitating this type of research, or going into the science field yourself.
JASON PITTS:
Yeah, absolutely. Ditto on all of that. I think that Baylor students already come in with, as you've described, this mission mindset, this idea that they would like to be someone who can go out and help change the world in a positive way. So, we can use that. We really do. The students, they gravitate toward work such as ours, because it has this very direct potential impact on people in the world. And whether or not they go on and study mosquitoes, or malaria vectors, whatever it is, isn't necessarily the most important thing that they take from working with us. It's that they understand this in a much more broad way, and that they see how it is that not only our research, but research like it in whole other areas, vaccines, or things like that, for example, our colleagues down at BCM, Baylor College of Medicine, are involved with really can impact lives of people dramatically, and that they can take that message forward wherever it is that they go.
DEREK SMITH:
Well, that's great. Well, I wish we had more time to visit, but as we wind down on the program, that's a great place to conclude today with some of those thoughts. Thank you so much for joining us on the program, Dr. Tamar Carter, Dr. Jason Pitts. Enjoyed the conversation.
TAMAR CARTER:
Oh, thank you for having us.
JASON PITTS:
Likewise. Thanks so much.
TAMAR CARTER:
This was awesome.
DEREK SMITH:
Dr. Tamar Carter, Dr. Jason Pitts from Baylor's Department of Biology, our guests today on Baylor Connections. I'm Derek Smith. A reminder, you can hear this and other programs online at baylor.edu/connections.